Looking for Group: A Modern Kirkwall Story
by therealmnemo
Summary: After getting griped at to spend time with her siblings, Theatre major Marian Hawke spends her free nights playing World of Warcraft and ends up pulling together a raid team of 10 Kirkwall locals. They decide to throw a giant LAN party to raid the "Deep Roads" 10 man, and crazy real life ensues.
1. Chapter 1

"Will you just shut your fucking cakehole, Carver!"

"I don't know what they want me to fucking do, Marian. I can't get tanking practice if I don't run dungeons, and if I never run dungeons I can't tank."

Hawke pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her mouse in frustration. This was the third dungeon where some 'epic' healer dropped group because their group was going 'too slow'. Carver was trying out his protection spec so they could finally run dungeons on their own without having to sit forever in queue waiting on the rare friendly-neighborhood tank.

She opened her eyes and stared at the screen.

You received loot. [Grime-Encrusted Scale]

[JuniorHawke]: Well you're just a fucking elitist, how the fuck am I going to learn?

Your share of the loot is 32 silver, 12 copper.

[Uberpriest69]: Too slow. Fail. Peace out nooblets.

Uberpriest69 has left the party.

[DragonHawke] facepalms

You are now in queue.

[RayofSunlite]: I'm sorry, maybe I should be better geared to help him run -_-

[DragonHawke]: Ugh, I'm really sorry Varric, I should just flip to resto..

[HangedVarric]: It's fine kid, I'm just here for my points, and Bianca's entertained.

HangedVarric handles Bianca's trigger

JuniorHawke gags

"Tell Beth I'm getting her a headset this weekend, it's going to be much easier if she can talk."

Hawke sighed and leaned back, listening to Carver relay the message to his sister and gripe about the hunter and his unhealthy fascination of his gun. Her mother bugged her to do something with her siblings regularly; and since she wouldn't let them hang out with her on campus, online gaming was the answer. Every Tuesday and Thursday, after her evening Theatre elective classes, she glued her ass to the chair and slapped on her headset. Beth was usually on doing some gathering quests or hanging out on a roleplay server when she logged in. Carver was never on time. Hawke would text him something borderline emasculating and within two minutes he was on vent, bitching in her ear.

"Beth says she's gonna bio and grab another drink, we should still be in queue."

That was exactly how this night started as well. Hawke reached under her desk to raid her mini-fridge for a beer. Sadly, all the good booze was gone, leaving the shitty Bud Light lime that her cousin left behind the last time he visited. She angled the bottle on the edge of the desk and smacked it hard with her hand to pop the cap off and took a long swig.

At least she had Varric to run around with. The whole reason she was playing this game in the first place was dragons, of course; the second was that she and her mother had a slight falling-out over winter break and starting this game let her hole up in her dorm and shut out the world. After hitting max level on the third day, she stumbled into the dungeon queue, and this quirky survival hunter was telling jokes and stories all through the run. After the last boss pull, the tank dropped the group, leaving the group scrambling. Hawke pulled every spell in her shaman spell book, throwing crowd control and healing spells despite not being in a healing spec. When they successfully downed the boss, Varric whispered her about running with him again. After several runs it turned out that he lived in Kirkwall, and soon they were inseperable on the server. Varric was just that guy, everyone knew him.

[BlondJustice] joined the party

[BlondJustice]: Hang on, I need to change specs really quick. I never get a dps queue.

[JuniorHawke]: Oh thank the Maker, we might go slow.. trying to pick up tank gear.

[BlondJustice]: Ha! That's fine, that means I get to smite heal.

RayofSunlite cheers!

[HangedVarric]: As long as we're alive at the end, Blondie, you do you.

Ten minutes later the dungeon was finished, and the Discipline priest ended up greasing the run with an overabundance of shields and extra damage. They exchanged jabs with Varric on the most creative ways to end the main boss while Carver cursed when he continuously lost aggro.

[BlondJustice] whispers: So are you trying to be heals or dps?

To:[BlondJustice]: healing for raiding,I guess? I'm just now gearing up and I'm not really sure I want to do

[BlondJustice] whispers: Well, if you're around later, I could give you some healing tips?

Hawke grinned as she excitedly typed to the disc healer. He started to send her whispers during fights and stayed with the group for another three dungeons.

"Marian. Are you paying attention? We're waiting on you for the queue." Carver barked over the headset.

"Sorry, the priest keeps talking to me. He's going to give me healing pointers after we're done tonight. I think he's from Kirkwall too!"

"Well, flirt on your own time dammit, I still have schoolwork to finish."

"Maybe you should do it instead consuming all that porn that I have to wipe off the computer every time I come home."

While the new string of expletives streamed through her headset, Hawke drained the remainder of the horrendous beer and checked the time. Fuck.

To:[BlondJustice]: Hey, gonna have to take a rain check on that healing lesson. Lost track of time and have to be up early for class.

[BlondJustice] whispers: oh that's fine, i'm on every night after my shift..you said you went to Kirkwall State right?

To:[BlondJustice]: Yeah, one more year.. this 6am bullshit will soon be over and I'll be free.

[BlondJustice] whispers: well, if you ever want to grab coffee sometime…?

Hawke blushed and bit her lip. Holy shit, someone is hitting on me over the internet . She quickly dropped her number into the whisper, exchanged names, and set a coffee date for the next afternoon. This deserved a celebratory beer, even if it was terrible. She replicated her bottlecap popping routine and threw it down the hatch.

"So, I think Anders is going to join our weekly dungeon group!" She unplugged her headset, shaking out of her pajama pants, and swiftly pulling off her bra through the armhole of her shirt.

Carver's voice grumbled through the speakers. "...Perfect. Beth says good night."

She leaned over to hit her push-to-talk key to give a quick "Love you too, baby brother" before flopping onto her dorm bed face-first into her pillow and passing out.


	2. Chapter 2

"So.. did you even think to ask what he looks like?"

"Whaaa.. shit." The coffee meant for Hawke's mouth was now pooling in a spot over her chest. She pushed her chair out from the table and lifted her hands in the air.

"Oh shit, Mare, I'm sorry!" Bethany reached across the counter to grab a stack of napkins. She handed the stack to Hawke and took the hovering cup with the remaining coffee in return.

"No, it's fine." Hawke split the stack and smooshed the wad of paper to her boobs. "At least I didn't throw on a v-neck today, I'm sure coffee-burnt cleavage would be a huge turn-off." Satisfied that most of the liquid was gone, she handed the coffee-heavy mass of paper back to Bethany who carefully sat down the cup of coffee next to the laptop on the table. "And to your question, no, but thankfully I thought to bring him here instead of some random place that he could kidnap me. I have my priorities."

"Riiight." Bethany chuckled as more customers walked through the door, an elderly couple that regularly frequented the shop. Bethany hurried back behind the counter. "Well, when he gets here, you give me the signal and I'll queue some scalding coffee if he's a creep."

Hawke grinned at Bethany while she busied with the customer's orders. There were definitely perks to have a family that owned a coffee shop. Amell's was a cornerstone of the community. It was Hawke's first after-school job, and now that she was in college and they were old enough, Carver and Bethany's first as well. Thankfully, when she set this up it was a Bethany day; she didn't need Carver hulking over the counter giving anyone the stink-eye.

She checked the time on her laptop. He was late. She took another large gulp of her third cup of coffee and checked her phone. A cursory glance revealed there were no missed messages. Figures, first internet date and I get stood up. Got up early for that 6am class to actually make myself decent for nothing . She tapped the code on the lock screen and found Anders' number.

Marian: Hey! Just running late off campus, wanted to make sure I didn't miss you!

There, now it doesn't seem like I've been here watching the door for an hour. The phone buzzed almost immediately

Anders: OMW Had a long appointment. Be there soon!

Marian: Cool. I'm at the table next to the counter.

Anders: Great, I'll be the guy with the fresh scratches on my face!

Scratches?

"He's late, Mare! Want me to mess up his order?"

"No, it's fine. Be on the lookout for a guy with scratches on his face."

"What? Nope, you know what, not even going to ask."

Hawke resumed scrolling through her social media accounts, paying far more attention to the door than what she was actually reading. She was almost to the bottom of her cup when the door opened again.

"Welcome to Amell's! OH, I think you're looking for Marian, right?"

Hawke's head snapped up to find an attractive blond man at the counter with Bethany. A tall, handsome, slightly-scratched blond in a t-shirt and loose sweatpants, who looked incredibly confused.

* * *

"Marian?" Anders tried to put together exactly what was going on here. Who is Marian? Why does this girl know who I am? Am I being catfished? To be fair, he never thought to ask Hawke what they looked like; or even their gender for that matter.

"Oh, she just gave you Hawke didn't she. Figures. That's what everyone calls her. You're Anders right?"

This barista is awfully chatty. He nodded, trying his best to convey his confusion.

"Good. I'm her sister Bethany, she's not just telling random coffee shop employees her date's names. She's sitting right over there."

She pointed to a woman staring at him over the screen of a laptop, coffee cup to her lips. Her face turned as red as the shirt she wore when he caught her pale blue eyes. Her long dark hair was braided over her shoulder. He was suddenly very aware of how much of a slob vibe he was giving off. She's pretty, I should have brought a change of clothes with me.

He walked over to the table and flashed her a grin. "Um, Marian? I was supposed to be meeting someone named Hawke, but I think I'd enjoy having a coffee with you more."

* * *

Bethany: Mare, I didn't see you online and Aveline said you're not in your room.

Bethany: Mare... if you do not answer me in the next five minutes I'm calling the cops.

Bethany: No, I'll tell Mom, and THEN call the cops.

Marian: do NOT tell Mom. I'm fine. I'm busy

Bethany: Oh… Oh no… you didn't

Marian: Shush. Cute vet. Round 3. Maintain radio silence until notified.

Bethany: Ugh. Tell me everything later.

* * *

Hawke opened the door to her floor while attempting to text Bethany an all clear. These actions, coupled with two, three, maybe ten drinks she had over the course of the evening, nearly put her ass over teakettle onto the floor. Shit. She slowly recovered from the awkward stance she caught herself with and carefully looked around the corner at the resident assistant office. Empty, nice. She kicked off her shoes, tucked them under her arms and briskly walked to her door.

After she dropped her keys twice, she successfully yanked open the door to her small sanctuary and was given her second wave of embarrassment of the day.

"Well, I was here to keep you from bringing a bad decision home, but it looks like you went ahead and made it already. A few times."

Aveline, Hawke's best friend since freshman year, now former roommate and current RA, sat on Hawke's desk chair with a look of exasperation.

"That's right, Beth asked you where I was? I don't know whether to kiss her or hit her next time I'm home." Falling into her evening routine, she stripped off her black leggings and tossed her shoes across the room.

"I'm shocked you remembered your underwear. HEY!" Hawke's bra pelted the side of her face.

"Hey, even when drinking, I remember how much these damn things cost me." She flopped onto her bed, propping her face up on her arm so she could still see Aveline. "He may have also reminded me as I was leaving, and had to get dressed all over again." Hawke watched as the frustrated redhead pulled on her short hair.

"You think after three years I wouldn't be surprised anymore."

"Oh c'mon, Aveline, give me a break. It's been five months, he was hot, and he works with animals. You'd have been surprised if I didn't mount him in the coffee shop." She watched as Aveline tried to keep from laughing, clearly a losing battle.

"I was just concerned because it was some random person on the internet. You don't think things out sometimes." Aveline stood up from the chair and grabbed for Hawke's fridge.

"There's only junk in there Aveline, I need to go shopping."

The door to the fridge closed and in her hands was not a beer, but a bottle of water. She sat down next to Hawke on the bed and offered the bottle. "I brought this for you, drink it now or you will not make it to your morning class."

Hawke took the bottle and rolled onto her back. She sat up and took the water bottle down in one drink and tossed it on the floor. "You're my favorite Aveline," she proclaimed as she fell back onto her pillow.

"I'm your only Aveline, Hawke. Scooch over." Aveline stretched out onto the bed beside Hawke, pulling her in for a loose embrace in a tradition that started their freshman year after her ex, Wesley, left her. "I'm staying tonight, I don't trust that you'll even hear your alarm in the morning. And don't worry, I already let Beth know you're back, I heard you fall all the way back here."

Hawke snorted and dug her head into the larger woman's chest. "You know me so well."


	3. Chapter 3

"That's it, I give up. If I have to finish Tartuffe to graduate, I'm just going to drop out."

Hawke tossed the notes from theatre history on her bed, and adjusted her headset. She had filled her fridge with a better selection of alcohol the night before, and reached inside to grab a cider. Wedge. Smack. Drink. She checked her phone for the fifth time since sitting down. Nothing.

"You complain too much Mare, I really liked Tartuffe when the University put it on last year." Bethany's voice was just too damn cheerful coming through the new headset she picked up.

"Oh, it's fine when you're watching it. It's different when you have to go all Sparks Notes on it and pick it apart."

Hawke stared at the group chat on the screen, it was only herself, Bethany and Varric tonight. Carver made up some excuse about being sick and Bethany could only confirm that he hadn't left the room. Anders had yet to log on. Or call. Or text.

[HangedVarric]: A little birdie told me that the new patch drops in a couple weeks.

[DragonHawke]: Ugh, it would be so nice to be able to raid at the start of a patch instead of pugging two months later.

[HangedVarric]: You know, we've got half of a team already… maybe we should go digging for a few more people and start our own 10man?

[DragonHawke]: HA, you mean the 5 people we kind of have and 2 people absent tonight.. that's a great start.

"He's got a point Mare, I'm not really a fan of some of these people we pug with."

Hawke knew Varric had a point. Working with other guilds and filling in where they needed was fine and dandy, but being able to have your own guild and raid group? More loot, more gold, more control. It was too appealing an idea to turn down.

She checked her phone again and sighed.

[DragonHawke]: Ok… fine. I'll start putting a guild together. You get the signatures Varric and I'll work on a recruiting message.

[HangedVarric]: Hawke, you wound me. I already have a guild charter signed and ready to go, just needed someone to lead it ;)

[DragonHawke]: Oh you sweet dwarf, I want to kiss you.

HangedVarric feigns shock and holds Bianca

[DragonHawke]: You are entirely too fond of that gun.

"Have you heard anything from him yet, Mare?"

Hawke's fingers were flying along the keyboard, putting together a macro to spam in the Looking for Group channel. She stopped to nurse her cider again.

"Well, nothing yet. At this point I'm not even mad about the whole not calling after hooking up bit; I'm miffed he bailed on his first night officially healing dungeon nights." She laughed a bit to brush off the issue, returning her hands to the keys.

A soft knock on her door pulled her attention from the screen.

"Beth, afk for a sec, Aveline's at the door."

"Ok, I'll let Varric know."

Hawke dropped her headset on her desk and launched herself towards the door. She twisted the knob and cracked the door open just enough for her face to peek through.

"I'm not decent."

Aveline's stern face broke out into a grin. "You're never decent, let me in."

"Touché."

Hawke opened the door for Aveline to follow her in. She kicked her clothes from class towards the foot of her bed, and pushed her class notes on top of the bundle to make room for her guest to sit. Once cleared, she stretched her arm out as if presenting Aveline her throne. The redhead snorted and flopped onto the offered bunk. Hawke dropped her ass back on the chair and slid back to her desk.

"Are you playing that game again?"

Hawke looked back as she readjusted her headset.

"It's Thursday, Aveline. Dungeons bringing siblings together for bonding time, yadda yadda."

[DragonHawke]: Ok Varric, I think I've got it most of it down, but what do we need really?

[HangedVarric]: Well, we already have one tank.. you and Blondie for heals… two ranged dps with me and Sunshine.

[DragonHawke]: sooo, that means 1 tank and 4 dps. I wouldn't mind a warlock and a rogue.

[HangedVarric]: No hunters, unless they're content to use bows.

[DragonHawke]: I'm not counting Anders as solid yet… I haven't seen him online today, so I'll fish for another healer too.

HangedVarric whistles.

[DragonHawke]: Oh shut it

"Has he called yet?"

Hawke snapped back to Aveline, who was reaching for the fridge. The 'I told you so' was so close she could taste it.

"No, but he's a vet Aveline, he could have been busy today."

Aveline handed the shandy she picked out to Hawke. Wedge. Smack. She returned it to the waiting hand.

"Mhmm. You didn't even tell me what all happened."

"Can this wait for a bit? I'm trying to get something together and this is kind of distracting."

Aveline's face grew dark for a second. She took a small sip from the shandy and narrowed her eyes at Hawke.

"Don't, don't give me that look. I swear, I'll just post this and we'll spend some time together. Carver didn't even show up tonight, and I'm sure Beth would love to catch up on The Magicians."

Aveline rolled her eyes and leaned back against the headboard.

"Hey, Beth… would you care if I skipped out on dungeons tonight? Aveline is over."

"Yeah, I don't mind. I have two episodes of The Magicians to watch anyways."

She looked back to Aveline and mouthed 'told you'.

[DragonHawke]: Ok, got it, gonna post it up. I need to put you up as the contact for now because I have to hop off.. that ok?

[RayofSunlite]: Just make sure you give us invite privileges before you drop off.

[HangedVarric]: Good call. Yeah, you put it up Hawke, I'll field the questions.

Hawke flipped through a few windows to adjust the guild ranks to give both Beth and Varric invite privileges.

[4. LookingForGroup] [DragonHawke]: Kirkwall Krew is a new guild recruiting for the upcoming patch. LF Prot Pally and mix of range and melee dps. PST HangedVarric for questions and invite.

[DragonHawke]: Ok Varric, all you.

[HangedVarric]: Night Hawke

"Night, Mare." Beth giggled through the headset.

"Night, Beth."

Hawke grabbed her phone and put her computer to sleep. She gently nudged Aveline over and sat down next to her.

"Ok, so it started with coffee…"

* * *

Anders fought with the lock to his apartment for a good two minutes when he realized he was using the wrong key. He cursed at the door and when the rusty lock turned he groaned along with it. Once the door was shut and locked behind him, he made a beeline for the fridge. He was emotionally drained and his stomach was ready to digest itself after a ten-hour day. Sitting on the top shelf was a chinese take-out box from the night before.

Shit.

He didn't bother warming the food, just grabbed a fork from the drawer and took the cold orange chicken into the living room. He dropped his keys on the coffee table and sunk into the couch, reaching over to boot up the laptop that sat beside him. He needed to get online to talk to Hawke and she'd be online already.

Shoveling another forkful of chicken into his mouth, he quickly signed into the login screen.

I'm such an ass, she probably thinks.. ugh.

[4. LookingForGroup] [DragonHawke]: Kirkwall Krew is a new guild recruiting for the upcoming patch. LF Prot Pally and mix of range and melee dps. PST HangedVarric for questions and invite.

Recruiting? They're not looking for a healer so that's a good sign.

To:[DragonHawke]: Hey! Sorry I'm late, it was a late day at the clinic…

DragonHawke has gone offline.

Shit.

To: [HangedVarric]: So, I'm hoping I'm included in this foray? I just got home from work.. long, long day.

[HangedVarric] whispers: As far as I know Blondie, but Hawke didn't feel very set on your commitment

To: [HangedVarric]: Commitment? Oh, to the group. Well yeah, I'd rather heal for you folk than some of these other jerks on the server.

[HangedVarric] whispers: Oh Blondie, you've got it bad like a schoolgirl. I'll have Sunshine send you an invite.

A guild invite window popped up on the screen. 'RayofSunlite invites you to join the guild Kirkwall Krew'

BlondJustice has joined the guild.

[RayofSunlite]: Ok, first things first… we're having a little talk.

Anders almost choked on his mouthful of rice.

Shit.

* * *

Fenris slid his credit card back into his wallet and lifted his hips to stick it back into his jeans. He didn't like spending anything on this game beyond the subscription cost, but the situation called for it. He refreshed his account transactions: Server Change - Pending. He let out a sigh when two slender hands starting working up the front of his shirt.

"I still don't know why you're switching to this tiny server, you're never going to get the good loot anymore."

"I didn't hear you sneak in, Izzie, you know tha-," a wandering hand slid down over the top of his jeans. Fuck.

"It's going to take hours for that to go through, I'm sure we can do something more entertaining instead of you sitting there hitting refresh."

Fenris leaned back against the back of his chair, letting Isabela roam. It was a welcome distraction. When you worked two jobs and took weekend classes to finish a fine arts degree, time is precious and relaxation hard to come by. Before he started his graduate program, he spent his extra time playing on a top server, world ranked for his class. Now he didn't have the time, and his guild was willing to toss something that just wasn't useful anymore when they couldn't keep running him ragged.

That's where Isabela came in. CptRivaini69 snuck into one of their raids by paying for a Heroic Raid kill and made the mistake of calling out a command on vent. The whispers from the sultry rogue assailed him until he logged off that night. They continued for weeks, he would pass her any rogue specific loot he would get, and it eventually escalated to blunt sexual talk in vent after raids. That's when he mentioned he worked at The Black Emporium during the day, selling records to hipsters telling him about their indiegogo to produce portable record players. The next morning he opened the door to the store to a curvy, caramel-skinned woman asking if he carried any Blondie.

This is how Miss Grabby-Hands ended up warming his bed the past month. It worked for her, getting the best of everything from a top-tier guild; and it worked for him, someone to hold him and give him release from the pressure-cooker his life has become.

The sound of a zipper coincided with pressing F5 one last time: Server Change - Completed.

He smacked away her hands and zipped his fly, "Looks like I didn't have to wait that long after all. They like to unload the heavy servers quickly."

Isabela pouted at him with those ruby red lips, "Well, when you're ready to unload, I'll be over here." She flashed him a positively shitlord grin and winked.

Fenris watched her swagger over to the bed in nothing but his dark blue sweatshirt, the bottom of her ass bouncing as she grabbed her laptop off his dresser. He shook his head thinking of anything else. Baseball, yes, baseball.

He logged on to the new server and dropped into the Looking for Group channel. First one I see, better than nothing.

[4. LookingForGroup] [DragonHawke]: Kirkwall Krew is a new guild recruiting for the upcoming patch. LF Prot Pally and mix of range and melee dps. PST HangedVarric for questions and invite.

Kirkwall Krew. It could be worse, could be 'Beta-Tested your Girlfriend'.

To: [HangedVarric]: I'm interested in your group, would a frost DK be welcome among your ranks?

[HangedVarric] whispers: Got a link to your armory?

Fenris wanted to laugh, this guy was going to shit himself when he saw who he was. He alt-tabbed out to his browser to grab his armory link.

To: [HangedVarric]: Does that suffice?

[HangedVarric] whispers: Bullshit, you are not THE LyriumGhost?

To: [HangedVarric]: Come meet me in Ironforge, inspect my gear.

[HangedVarric] whispers: Ok ok, I believe you.

Fenris quickly accepted the guild invite, smiling to himself. If this ended up being a group of locals, maybe it would give him more of an excuse to leave certain distractions behind.


	4. Chapter 4

Hawke sighed and pushed into the hand brushing through her hair. She really didn't want to go over this again, Bethany had all but dragged it out of her earlier that day over the phone.

"It started with coffee," Aveline repeated clearly, "Alright, now just fill in those next seven hours for me."

"Oh Maker, was it really seven hours? No wonder I could barely walk this morning."

Aveline groaned and pushed Hawke's head from her chest.

"Fiiine. We spent about an hour at the shop. Bethany kept us caffeinated, which probably didn't help matters."

Hawke reached out to firmly grab Anders by the chin to assess the damage to his face.

"You don't really do personal space do you?" He sat the coffee he was about to drink back on the table.

Hawke turned bright red for the third time since he walked into the shop, but his reassuring smile let her know he was just teasing. It could have been the caffeine, the novelty of meeting an online stranger, or five month dry spell that fueled her next move. Emboldened, she pulled his face closer, and whispered in his ear.

"What is this personal space you speak of?"

Before she had a chance to laugh and pull away, two large slender hands were on either side of her face, and a pair of lips claiming her own. She barely registered her sister yelling from the counter.

"Would you two get a room?!"

She quickly pulled away, hand covering what she knew to be freshly irritated skin around her lips from Anders' stubble. The way he looked at her was almost predatory.

"I think that's exactly what we'll do."

"And then the fucker winked at me. WINKED AT ME." She rolled her eyes and buried her face back into Aveline's chest. The redhead gave a hearty laugh that shook the bed and vibrated through Hawke's face.

"Hawke, you are truly hopeless."

Hawke attempted to answer but only reached Aveline's ears as random grunting noises. Aveline grabbed Hawke's hair and pulled her face up.

"I said, 'I'm not the one who sent those god-awful Spotify mixtapes to my boyfriend away at Cumberland'. So…" Hawke stuck her tongue out.

"We know too much about each other. If we ever have a falling out, I hope you're prepared to also battle to the death. For now, I need more details."

Hawke quickly shoved her phone back in her purse after answering Bethany. Anders was coming back to the couch with the recently delivered Chinese food he ordered for them. She reached for the bottle of vodka sitting on the coffee table to refill her glass. The carafe of fresh orange juice beside it already drained, she was far past caring how the vodka tasted on its own. Screwdrivers and Chinese food didn't really mix either.

Anders dropped onto the couch beside her and handed her the pint of eggplant she requested. He tore open the quart of fried rice and started devouring it. Hawke attempted to focus on her food - she was absolutely starving at this point - but she was still very naked and very tipsy, and the man beside her looking very sexy in a pair of threadbare boxers. They had barely made it past the kitchen the first round, and ended up on the couch the next.

"You do realize there's food in your hands, Marian? You don't have to look at me like **that**." The bastard grinned at her and placed the half-finished meal on the coffee table.

"And then it was… ROUND THREE. FIGHT!" Hawke was now on her knees straddling Aveline, waving her arms around in some sort of choreographed fighting style. "Then I remembered I had class in the morning, he kept me from leaving without my lucky thong, and you know the rest." She shrugged and the collapsed back on the bed.

They sat in silence for a few minutes when Hawke rolled back on her side.

"Soo, Aveline. Do you think you might want to come back and play the game again?" She flinched when the set of green eyes narrowed at her. "No no, hear me out. Donnic plays right? It could be like, a long distance couple bonding thing! The fact that I get a tank for my raid group is just secondary."

It was Aveline's turn to roll her eyes. "I told you I wouldn't play again, I barely tolerate Donnic playing."

Aveline's childhood sweetheart Wesley started playing when they were still in high school, and brought Aveline to the game, expecting her to heal for him like the rest of his friends' girlfriends. Instead, she rolled a Protection Warrior and became their group's main tank.

When their freshman year rolled around, he became more distant. Halfway through the year he told Aveline that he met some girl on a different server and that they'd been sleeping together since the start of the school year. She stopped playing after that.

"It doesn't have to be that way Aveline, you're in a far healthier relationship with Donnic than you were with Wesley. C'mon, I'll even pay your sub fees for the first three months. If you wanna stop after that, or keep playing, it's on you."

Aveline crossed her arms, brows furrowed in thought.

Hawke raised a finger like she had just come up with an even better idea. "And you can protect me from Internet predators! Wha, nooo-" Hawke's ass collided with the floor in one swift movement.

Aveline stuck her head over the side of the bed, "Fine, but I'm setting up in here. I need to physically keep an eye on you to do that."

* * *

Anders stared at the screen for another two minutes, slapping his chest to settle himself after almost choking to death on his rice.

BlondJustice has joined the guild.

[RayofSunlite]: Ok, first things first… we're having a little talk  
[HangedVarric]: I do not envy you right now Blondie. I'll handle invites while you do what you need to do Sunshine.

He scraped the bottom of the container, trying to decide how he was going to respond to this.

[BlondJustice]: Alright, I guess I deserve that..

[RayofSunlite]: Damn right you do

[RayofSunlite]: You didn't even make sure she got home ok

[BlondJustice]: Hey, I tried to walk her home, she assured me the rail dropped off right in front of the Gallows.

LyriumGhost has joined the guild.

[RayofSunlite]: She was wasted and you listened to her?

[BlondJustice]: I was awfully smashed too you know, but I know this is about not calling today.. I really didn't mean it, I ran late today and logged in as soon as I got home

[RayofSunlite]: Ugh, hi new person. I'm sorry, this is not usual drama. Um, Blond, can we take this to vent?

Anders scrambled to find his headset, and realized his laptop's mic would have to do in this scenario. He was not going to keep the little sister waiting. He booted up vent and she was already in the channel waiting for him.

"Listen, Bethany, I-"

"No, I need to get this out. I really don't think you understand. I'm just, I'm not really here to chew you out."

Anders exhaled. That's a relief.

"It's just, Marian has a habit of just rushing into things… she's not been in a real relationship in two years, and after that well… I don't want to paint my sister like she banged the football team, but she just kind of started to meet cute guy, have fun, never hear from guy again."

Anders felt sick. This was an honest-to-goodness mistake, but this story hit just a little too close to home. To know that someone was feeling just like he did since Karl - it made him feel all the more connected to her.

"Bethany, I swear, my intentions with -"

The speakers cut him off, something was pulling along Bethany's mic. After some loud mumbling the scratching stopped and there was a new voice booming through.

"I swear to the Maker if hurt my sister I will fucking break you. Do we understand each other?"

Anders started to sweat, heart pounding. "Uh, I um… Yes, we're good. I have, no intention to -"

"I'm not joking. I will fucking end you."

Anders was positive Hawke never mentioned having a brother, even though he should have put two and two together with the damn screen name, and all he could imagine was this voice coming from some hulking beast of a man. He was also pretty sure he wanted to cry.

"Will you just, please. Listen to me. I have nothing but the best intentions for your sister, in fact - it sounds like we have a lot more in common than you think. Maker, I had to put down three cats today and then this. I'm sorry, I really am."

The scratching in the speakers indicated the headset was passing between siblings again.

"I'm sorry Anders, that's terrible. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a bit miffed at you, but I am sorry."

Anders leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes. With one hand he closed the lid of the laptop and reached for his phone with the other.

* * *

Merrill balanced her chin on the palm of her hand, propped up on her elbow. Her knees bounced and tapped against the low desk. She let a hand slide along the edge of the old wood, contemplating bringing it into work to restore it.

Work. It was work, then back to this small apartment in Kirkwall. She used to walk in the University gardens, but that ended when the campus police ejected her for picking flowers on the property. She only wanted to have a few small bundles for her new place, it was strange in this little city.

She pulled her hands of the desk and concentrated on the screen in front of her. If she couldn't pick flowers on the school grounds, there were plenty of them here in the little game she picked up. Her little Warlock had just touched down from the flight path with empty bags. Once on her mount, she started her nightly farming routine. Herbs and Ore. She would make potions and flasks with half of them and bank the rest. Saving everything up for when she finally found a group that would let her play too.

Merrill was homeschooled in the Dales, a rural mix of farmland and forests in Southern Thedas. She didn't have any neighbors, and spent most of her time in the forest or reading. Her mother would spend time teaching her how to restore old furniture she'd bring back from the northern markets; dressers, armoires, tables, mirrors, anything other people would toss away.

Moving to Kirkwall had caused a rift between them, her mother not understanding why she needed to give up their quiet life for the city. She couldn't get why Merrill insisted she needed to meet people and learn to be on her own. Her mother was kind enough to give her a small amount of money to help find an apartment, but from there she was on her own.

With that money she found a small efficiency apartment with leftover funds going to purchasing the basics: bed, couch, desk, computer, phone. Most of the furniture she found in a small antique and restoration boutique, this same store offered her a job on the spot when she inquired if they were hiring.

Her survival more or less covered, she lamented still not knowing anyone, and she wasn't sure where to even begin meeting new people. She half-wished she had applied to the university and now had every intention of enrolling in a few summer courses if she earned enough money.

So, she worked during the day and came home to her little computer to waste her hours away.

[4. LookingForGroup] [DragonHawke]: Kirkwall Krew is a new guild recruiting for the upcoming patch. LF Prot Pally and mix of range and melee dps. PST HangedVarric for questions and invite.

Merrill almost missed the message in the corner of her screen. Kirkwall? Oh! Maybe this will be it!

She sent a whisper to HangedVarric and had a guild invite all within two minutes. She covered her face with her hand as if trying to contain the smile that spread across her face.


End file.
